Scenarios load SLOOOW in civ3! :(

Hagbart · August 4, 2002, 08:35

Compared to civ2 the scenarios for civ3 load so slow on my computer! (sometimes 2-5 minutes and more) I can't understand why...it has to load the same things like cities and units and so, but civ3 just seem to be a much "heavier" programme than civ2...why is that? The civ3 scenarios have less features than the civ2 ones...

Btw: I have a p3-550mhz, 192mb ram.

Panag · August 5, 2002, 09:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Hagbart
Compared to civ2 the scenarios for civ3 load so slow on my computer! (sometimes 2-5 minutes and more) I can't understand why...it has to load the same things like cities and units and so, but civ3 just seem to be a much "heavier" programme than civ2...why is that? The civ3 scenarios have less features than the civ2 ones...

Btw: I have a p3-550mhz, 192mb ram.

hi ,

maybe its your comp , .....
even on laptop they are faster then civ2

have a nice day

Hagbart · August 5, 2002, 10:54

ok, i will try reinstalling civ3 and see if it gets better. maybe it was the scenario that was bad...

Hagbart · August 5, 2002, 15:43

Well...I just tried a scenario (This one - go try it out) on my laptop 800mhz and it IS very slow loading...

King of Rasslin · August 5, 2002, 21:16

I know! It's because of poor programming.

Computers are so powerful now, mine is 700 mhz 128 RAM and it is so slow. It's because Civ 3 wasn't programmed right.

zorbop · August 5, 2002, 22:11

the real reason it loads slower than civ2 is civ3 has better graphics.

and mhz has less to do with it than you'd think. in most games, the computer doesn't really have to process all that much, so 500 mhz won't be different from 1000.
ram shouldn't matter unless you have had the computer on for about 4 days, or you have less than 128. hard drive space should only matter if you have almost all used up, in which case it should run slow.

it takes long because it needs to load a lot of pictures. if you want games to go faster, get better graphics and sound cards.

and as kingf of rasslin said, the lazziness of programers can slow it down. and since most programers happen to be lazzy... if you know anything about c++ (i think that is what civ3 is programmed in), not being lazzie requires a nastie little thing called pointers. these happen to be very complicated and in general, unfriendly. however, using them correctly can save a LOT of memory and speed up programs a lot also.

Coracle · August 5, 2002, 23:14

Quote:

Originally posted by King of Rasslin
I know! It's because of poor programming.

Computers are so powerful now, mine is 700 mhz 128 RAM and it is so slow. It's because Civ 3 wasn't programmed right.

Yea, we know.

The slowness of the game has been a problem from Day One. And don't anyone tell me it's my computer.

I wonder if that is why they killed accelerated starts.

Pythagoras · August 5, 2002, 23:22

Well every programming firm is in cahoots with the hardware guys! Especially Microsoft. They just keep programming crappy, making you go get more hardware. N-e one remember when Operating Systems came on a floppy and took up like 2K of memory?

mwaf · August 6, 2002, 07:16

The software industry, especially the gaming industry, is on a very tight schedule due to often unrealistic release dates. Consequently, the job is rushed to get a "working" version out instead of focusing on code optimization and fixing bugs. This is the impression I get at least, and I don't know if this applies to Civ3.

Panag · August 6, 2002, 10:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Hagbart
Well...I just tried a scenario (This one - go try it out) on my laptop 800mhz and it IS very slow loading...

hi ,

what about your compspecs , .....the bus system is to be blamed most of the times , the grahpics card next , the memory also , .....

buy a mac , we have ones calculated that a mac laptop could take on a map with the size of 480X480 , and 48 civs , .....

now there is a mod running on the biggest map 256X256 and the max amount of wonders , 256 , the max of civ , the whole nine yards of max , .....on a 650mhz , .....

it just depends all on the comp and the guy behind it , ...

have a nice day

Switch · August 6, 2002, 13:38

Well, it could be that the scenario was, umm, compressed.

If you don't like them being compressed, there's an option somewhere in the editor that allows this to be turned off. That also explains why after a certain patch (forget which one), saves loaded slower, because they started to become compressed...

And as to the graphics slowing it down, that is actually quite false. It is all prerendered stuff, so loading a scenario shouldn't take longer than starting a game, where graphics are concerned. Sure, it would take slightly longer because of better graphics, but not noticeably.

Hagbart · August 6, 2002, 17:43

Quote:

Originally posted by zorbop
it takes long because it needs to load a lot of pictures. if you want games to go faster, get better graphics and sound cards.

Well I do have a geforce2 32mb graphics card, which runs Quake3 the same res as Civ3 quite well, so I think that is not the problem. I blame it on bad programming too...

Thrawn05 · August 7, 2002, 20:17

I have two computers, a PIII 550MHz and 256MB of RAM, and a 1.6GHz 256MB of RAM, AND BOTH LOAD SLOW.

Even editing a scenarios takes forever (I don't even bother to place roads anymore). I think after a week or so of really going at it with the editor, I find it to be sort of a rush job, and needs some real bugs taken out. The biggest one of course, is the load time in the game.

I suspect it has to do mainly with culture boards, the more cities with more culture tends to mean longer load time to me. Units are not much of a problem, just when you start have to fort endless amount of units and give endless amounts of workers jobs.

Firaxis is doing good, just needs to do better IMHO.

Panag · August 8, 2002, 09:11

hi ,

lots of people think that the mhz is important , it is , but so is the systembus , and the ram , ....

and why let all those programs run , when you dont need them , adaptec , firewall's , virusprograms , word , office , you dont need that when you are playing , ....

and there is huge part of programs that you can stop , just to make your comp faster

and guys , its not the mod , because some mods , than run on a laptop of 650 or 850 mhz are actually faster then a pen4 , .......

have a nice day

Hagbart · August 8, 2002, 17:00

I don't run any programmes while loading and it is still slow..

panag, why don't you try out the 'Now (today scenario)' or whatever it is called. That is a slooow loading scenario. You must agree on that..

Thrawn05 · August 8, 2002, 20:42

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
hi ,

lots of people think that the mhz is important , it is , but so is the systembus , and the ram , ....

and why let all those programs run , when you dont need them , adaptec , firewall's , virusprograms , word , office , you dont need that when you are playing , ....

and there is huge part of programs that you can stop , just to make your comp faster

and guys , its not the mod , because some mods , than run on a laptop of 650 or 850 mhz are actually faster then a pen4 , .......

have a nice day

My 550Mhz is a 100Mhz Bus, the 1.6Ghz is a 400MHz bus. Both use WinXP pro and only have Explorer and Systray running. I'm not a stupid idoit who don't know how to make a batch file FYI.

Panag · August 10, 2002, 06:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Hagbart
I don't run any programmes while loading and it is still slow..

panag, why don't you try out the 'Now (today scenario)' or whatever it is called. That is a slooow loading scenario. You must agree on that..

hi ,

done , strange , it does not load that slow , .....
maybe its your comp , what else can it be , ....

have a nice day

Panag · August 10, 2002, 06:03

Quote:

Originally posted by Thrawn05

My 550Mhz is a 100Mhz Bus, the 1.6Ghz is a 400MHz bus. Both use WinXP pro and only have Explorer and Systray running. I'm not a stupid idoit who don't know how to make a batch file FYI.

hi ,

, where is it said that you are a stupid idoit , ....

and btw what system are you running , mac or windows , ....

its great to have your system , but there are comps out there that dont have the right software for it , result , a slow comp , .....

now , why does this scen load slow , ....

we should try to find out why it does so with one , but not with the other , ...

have a nice day